October 24 – LD 43, Day 3: Loving the Neighbour
in Truth
by Pastor Steven Key
Ephesians 4:25: “Wherefore
putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:
for we are members one of another.”
The power of the tongue
is a precious gift when used not only to praise God in truth, but also to speak
the truth in love to the neighbour and to express
love for the neighbour. The Catechism expresses our
positive calling this way, “that in judgment and all other dealings I love the
truth, speak it uprightly and confess it; also that I defend and promote, as
much as I am able, the honor and good character of my neighbour.”
That means that when my neighbour is a fellow believer, my speech seeks to
encourage him spiritually, to strengthen his faith. Woe to that man who is a
stumbling block to the brother. I don’t speak, of course, of those offenses
that come when a brother refuses to hear the instruction of the Scriptures. As Prov 10:17b says, “he that refuseth reproof erreth.”
When you bring the Word of God to a wayward brother and he is offended because
he refuses to hear the Word with application to himself, that is not your fault
— assuming you have spoken the truth in love and with a proper spiritual
attitude. Then, his taking offense is not a rejection of you, but of the Word.
But woe to that man who becomes a stumbling block to the brother by reason of
evil-speaking, or of living a lie. The speech of love is a speech that edifies,
that builds up in the faith, that encourages in the
truth of God’s Holy Word.
On the other hand, when
my neighbour is an unbeliever, the power of the
tongue is used to his advantage when I confess the truth of God’s Word and show
my life in harmony with that Word of truth. Certainly I am not promoting the honour of my neighbour, when I
hide the truth from him and ignore the coming consequence of his walk in
unbelief. As much as I am able, I am to speak the truth and confess the name of
Him Who is truth. That is the purpose for which God gave me a tongue and the
power of speech — to glorify Him in truth, and to promote that truth also in
relation to my neighbour.